A world of curry

San Diegans Momoko Jackson and Bruce Jackson fell in love with global curries back in 1995 and opened World Curry Restaurant in Pacific Beach. Today the restaurant is a Pacific Beach institution. Bruce still runs the kitchen and Momoko handles the marketing, including a line of fresh Thai curry pastes called Oh Momo! they are selling to chefs and home cooks.

(Eduardo Contreras)

Caron Golden

So let’s just get this out of the way first. What exactly is curry? If it’s on a restaurant menu, it’s a complexly flavored sauce that creates heavenly dishes with vegetables, tofu, chicken, beef or seafood. And, well, it’s got to include fragrant ingredients like lemon grass and ginger or galangal, and, perhaps chilies, although those herbs and spices will vary, depending on the dish and its geographic origin.

Then there is curry powder. These aromatics tend to be used in the Indian subcontinent and in British dishes but are also found across Asia and into the Caribbean. There’s no one combination of dried spices that makes up curry powder. They tend to have specific names that will tell you their use, like garam masala, which usually has cumin, cardamom, turmeric, pepper, cloves and cinnamon. You can create a curry dish with curry powder but also use it for a marinade or a spice rub or sprinkled over roasted vegetables to add flavor.

And, there are actual curry leaves. These green leaves tend to be citrusy and sometimes bitter, and, yes, they’re used in Indian cuisine, but they aren’t a substitute for curry powder.

But for our purposes, let’s talk about curry, the well-traveled saucy dish. The name is derived from the southern Indian word “kari,” meaning sauce and was transformed into “curry,” probably by the British, who had colonized India in the 18th century. You’ll find curry not just in India, but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Japan and the Caribbean — not to mention around the world in countries that have fallen in love with its powerful flavors and often creamy texture.

San Diegans Bruce Jackson and Momoko Jackson fell so in love with these global curries that back in 1995, when they were first married, that they opened World Curry in Pacific Beach. Thirty-three years later, they’re no longer a couple but continue to share ownership of the restaurant, with Bruce still helming the kitchen while Momo handles the marketing, including a line of fresh Thai curry pastes called Oh Momo! they’re selling to both chefs and home cooks.

Bruce Jackson actually discovered curry in his mid-20s in Japan during a visit. Nothing fancy, it was the popular boxed instant curry that the Japanese, he said, eat all the time. He’d also find it in Singapore and Thai restaurants there, and since he loved cooking, he started experimenting, taking cooking classes in Thailand and doing deep dives into cookbooks. He and Momoko, who is Japanese, met in Japan and returned to San Diego. Instead of going into finance, which was the plan, opening a curry restaurant beckoned. After nine months of recipe development, he started with about a dozen curries, as well as skewers, and after a year bought a tandoori oven to make naan.

Eduardo Contreras / U-T

Owner Bruce Jackson makes naan bread using a tandoori oven at World Curry in Pacific Beach.

Cooking curry is pretty straightforward, Jackson said. “It’s like making spaghetti sauce in that you stir once in a while and don’t let it burn. For Thai curries, all the work is in making the paste. Once you have that, it goes quickly.”

To achieve real smoothness with both the sauces and the pastes, Jackson recommends using a blender instead of a food processor.

The dishes also benefit from time — lots of it. Jackson likes to cook the curries the day before serving them, to give the flavors time to mingle.

This is especially true, Jackson said, for the Bali Beef, a rich, thick stew that he explains is basically an Indonesian curry since Bali doesn’t use much beef. His inspiration was a curry at a Bali food cart, sticky rice and beef — like a rice ball with spicy beef — served with a banana leaf. In Jackson’s version, the brisket ultimately falls apart in the long, slow-cooking process, bathed in garlic, cumin, black pepper, chili powder, onion, lemon grass, galangal and coconut milk. Brown sugar adds depth and a little lemon juice, star anise powder and cinnamon give it brightness.

Jackson’s Tikka Masala curry is straight out of ... England. In fact, he found the recipe he based his version on in a British cookbook. Most tikka masala dishes, he said, are “kind of tomato-ey.” In fact, it’s not a typical Indian dish but would be a colonial dish, considered like British street food — think of it as having the same relationship to India as California rolls have with Japan. Jackson’s tikka masala has a little ketchup but no tomatoes. It isn’t difficult to make, but there are a lot of ingredients. You’ll make up your spice mix — something you can double when prepping to have more to use later. With that spice mix, you’ll make your paste. Then you’ll sauté onions and almonds, and add that to the paste in a blender, along with coconut milk. Pour it all into a stock pot and add half and half, brown sugar, ketchup, garam masala, rice vinegar and a little salt. After simmering the mixture for an hour and a half, you’ll add your protein and/or vegetables, cook them through and enjoy with steamed rice. Jackson prefers jasmine rice.

I love both of these curries but was really drawn to Jackson’s Thai Massaman Curry, which he served me with tofu and cauliflower. The curry paste you make for this dish can actually last for a few months in the fridge, making it the basis for some great healthy and quick weekday meals. It’s filled with chilies and garlic, onion and shallots and lemon grass, fish sauce, sugar and spices. You combine the paste with coconut milk, simmer, then add whatever protein and/or vegetables you like. Once, they’ve cooked through, serve it over rice.

Successfully making curry, according to Jackson, is basically about taking care with each step and creating building blocks of flavor. “Even an extra 20 seconds can make a difference in the results,” he said. “Letting the sauce gently simmer and settle in will yield more flavor.”

Heat oil on medium/high heat and sauté the beef until browned on most sides. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In the same pan sauté the garlic until golden. Stir in the cumin, coriander, black pepper and chili powder and cook for another minute. Stir in the onion, lemon grass and galangal. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the contents of the pan and the cup coconut milk to the blender. Blend until smooth and pour the blender contents back into the stock pot.

Add in the browned beef, then add all the remaining ingredients to the same stock pot.

Bring to a low boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. When the beef falls apart and is tender, the curry should be done. Serve with steamed rice.

Mussaman Curry

For this Thai dish, you first prepare the curry paste, then create the curry sauce with the paste. To the sauce, you’ll add your vegetables and any proteins you want — shrimp or other seafood, chicken, tofu or beef — or none, simmer until cooked, and then serve over rice.

Serves 4 to 6

Mussaman Curry Paste

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1/2 ounce mild dried chili such as California, New Mexico, Anaheim)

1 ounce fresh chopped garlic

1 ounce fresh chopped onion

3/4 ounce fresh chopped shallots

1/4 ounce fresh chopped lemon grass

1/4 cup fish sauce or soy sauce

2 ounces cane sugar

1 tablespoons coriander powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder

1 1/2 teaspoons star anise powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Heat the oil over medium/high heat and fry the chilies until they puff up and become crisp. Remove from oil and set aside.

Add the garlic, onions and shallots to the remaining oil and cook until soft for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Put all ingredients (excluding dry spices) into the blender or food processor and mix until smooth.

Add in the coriander, cumin, star anise and cinnamon. Mix until it’s a uniform consistency. If the paste is too thick for your blender, pour it into a bowl and mix by hand.

Add in proteins and/or vegetables and cook until done. Serve with steamed rice.

Tikka Masala Curry

Serves 4 to 6

Tikka Masala spice ingredients

2 1/2 tablespoons cumin powder

2 tablespoons coriander powder

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons ginger powder

2 teaspoons mango powder (amchur)

2 teaspoons gram flour (besan)

1 1/2 teaspoons fenugreek powder

1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder

1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala

1/2 teaspoons asaphoetida powder

1/2 teaspoons black pepper

1/2 teaspoons mustard powder

For the curry

6 tablespoons butter, ghee or cooking oil

2 tablespoons fresh chopped garlic

1/2 cup tikka masala spice (recipe follows)

½ cup fresh chopped onion

2 tablespoons chopped almonds

14-ounce can of coconut milk

1 1/2 cups half and half

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon garam masala

2 teaspoons chicken or vegetable base (paste or granules)

2 teaspoons rice vinegar or lemon juice

1 teaspoons salt

1 pound of protein of your choice

1 cup vegetables of your choice

Combine Tikka Masala Spice ingredients and set aside.

Heat the butter, ghee or oil on a medium heat and sauté the garlic for about a minute. Add in the tikka masala mix, then stir constantly for a minute or two, being careful not to burn the paste. Transfer the paste to a blender or food processor.

In the same pan sauté the onions and almonds for about 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent. Transfer the onions and almonds to the blender or food processor.

Add the coconut milk and blend until very smooth.

Place contents into the stock pot and add the remaining ingredients, except for protein and veggies. Bring to a low boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.